And I think really community engagement has been such a foundation of what we've done as a site council. as well. We also continue to partner um with different um groups and organizations in the community. Um one of our big units is um community helpers. So, we bring in a dentist, we bring in the fire department, we bring in the police. You know, we're really trying to build up those occupations and give kids a little exposure, but also learn about people in their community um in teaching all of that support that's there and how to reach out to them. Um, we're also working on developing either towards the end of the school year or maybe at the kickoff to the fall a community resource fair where families can come and get their library card. They can learn about car seat safety, you know, and have the police and fire there to help check those things.
Um, we just finished up our May walkthroughs as well, but there has definitely been some increases in the uh, look fors as we call them in the learning walk tool and we are excited to see all of the growth across the district. These are just district-wide trends. Each principal receives their own building based data. Some classroom visit shots, my favorite part of getting into those classrooms. And then these are just some uh specific look fors that came out of our last learning walk where we were deepening what we were looking for in each classroom. And we solidified the learning walk tool to be a little more succinct so that it wasn't as lengthy and that we were focused on two uh indicators instead of I think the original walkthrough had 12. And you will see that we have some positive growth. teachers are beginning to plan for higher order thinking and discourse and really designing tasks that support support deeper understanding.
Um, we just finished up our May walkthroughs as well, but there has definitely been some increases in the uh look fors as we call them in the learning walk tool and we are excited to see all of the growth across the district. These are just district-wide trends. Each principal receives their own building based data. Some classroom visit shots, my favorite part of getting into those classrooms. And then these are just some uh specific look fors that came out of our last learning walk where we were deepening what we were looking for in each classroom. And we solidified the learning walk tool to be a little more succinct so that it wasn't as lengthy and that we were focused on two uh indicators instead of I think the original walkthrough had 12. And you will see that we have some positive growth. teachers are beginning to plan for higher order thinking and discourse and really designing tasks that support support deeper understanding.
Um, so the last page of it where diversity, equity, and inclusion are redlined. Yes. Is that like because we're avoiding those specific words? Well, it's to be consistent with Yeah. the diversity, equity, and inclusion thing. So, the challenge is is that we're asked not to change the language by the state, but then we have the federal. So, we're kind of living in the limbo. So um and nowhere else in the policy does it mention this particular thing until the very last line of this. Um, and so there is discussion at the state level about what to do about that because if we're to follow what the state says and the state says that we are to adopt this policy as written with no changes and and it's a very long policy and we tried previously to rework the policy to make it a little more user friendly and when we sent it off to the attorneys they're like that's great your revision looks good but you have to take the policy as it's written.
We do our unmeings where a couple teachers will say, you know, I've been trying this tag reading and this is how I did it. And they're just sitting. It's like 10 15 minutes that they're talking to their colleagues and then we move around and we learn from each other because we have such an incredible staff and our high needs focus. We know that our high need students need more help and love and so we are looking at them specifically. So how can we help them through targeted instruction when we're leveraging our assets for our school improvement? I mentioned before the flexible grouping in math. We reintroduced that this year and I'm excited to see the growth and I'll show you in a couple of slides. We've increased the student discourse and a lot of this is also in line with what our MLL students do.
My club. Correct. And we've done this program for several summers. Okay. And not had any issues. Okay. I was just curious. Yeah, of course. You could reach out to the um Clarity Helps, right? Helps, Jen Simmons. She's the my club director and I and if you go on their website, there's an email address and a phone number. So, I'm sure you could reach out to her and ask if you could have a time to ask her any of your questions or concerns. She always answers me right back anytime I have a question. Okay. All right. Okay. All right. Thanks. You're welcome. Any other discussion? Oh, and I just wanted to note on there, there's the two amounts, but we split the contract with. So, you'll see a note on the top right corner. Fast Lake pays 67% of the total. So, the middle column there has the full total and then to the right of that is the total that we'll pay because they do that based on the enrollment and the majority of the student our majority of our students and then um does have a small group that comes from Kors Gold and Riverold.
In the future, can we collaborate about what is needed for students when planning placement? We all want what is best for students and appreciate our upcoming meeting to take their needs into consideration. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Wood. Our next speaker is Rain [Applause] Bird. Hi, my name is Rain Bird, a proud student to be at Ruskin. I want Miss Kimberly and Miss Melanie to still be in my school office because they are really kind and helpful. Miss Melanie has known me since I was a baby. They both have looked after me and helped me do a lot of other stuff. And for as long as I known And for as long as I know, they have been there since I was in kindergarten all the way to third grade. So, please keep Miss Melanie and Miss Kimberly in my school office. Thank you. Thank you, Rain.
Andrew, and I'm gonna make sure I say his last name correctly, even though it's spelled phonetically different. So, Mr. Maul, and then of course Rhonda Odlin. And so, um, tonight I believe is going to be a very wide workshop because you're going to be able to see the top down about how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together to support our students. And so, I think it's very important that, you know, we we ask questions and uh that's why we're here and we were prepared for and it's going to be very informational. So with that we start with the clicker and let's go to the first one. So I I think to be able to address this board workshop, we need to be able to define what an atrisisk student is. And so there are some factors that are out there. But I do want to say this is not just these factors.
It's not because it's the end and it's not because of the pomp and circumstance. It's my favorite day of the year because the reflection that it brings. I love thinking about the things that you've accomplished and the moments that brought you here today. I love seeing the pride in your family's eyes as they reflect on what the last 18 years has looked like with you. families, I see you. Thank you for letting us be partners in your graduate story. Most of all, I love graduation because it's a pivotal moment of hope that we can all be inspired by as we watch you transition forward as adults. I have a belief that you're going to do great things. And I hope that the partnership between your family and the school and your teachers and counselors has prepared you for that journey. I lean on that hope and that belief knowing that your future is now truly in your hands.
Those are the moments that made learning in school fly by. And then there were the group projects, late night texts, after school practices, the hallway therapy sessions. Although it felt like chaos, it was chaos that brought us all closer. We've all had those moments laughing until we couldn't breathe, finishing something we swore would fall apart, and then looking back and realizing, wait, we actually just did that. We weren't just classmates. We were a community. We led, failed, showed up, and grew. And somehow through all of it, we became something stronger. I'm forever grateful for Pine Creek because Pine Creek gave us more than just a diploma. It gave us lessons that don't show up on our transcripts. We learned hard work from our coaches who pushed us even when we had little left to give. We learned care from our teachers who believed in us even when we didn't believe in ourselves.
We made it fun. We got to talk and and meet people and it it was um an awesome experience. We have so many great people in this district. And then um I got to attend a meeting where uh there were donations given and I got to meet some community members in um in Canara which was very special and um they and then we got to see parts of Mamma Mia which was even more special. So it was very cool. Yes. So it was a it was a great month. Okay. Jason, you have anything? We went to the recognition together. Yeah. Together. It was okay. Very. Yes, it was a we had a lot of people. It was a some pretty good food beforehand and it was nice. Very nice. Okay. Stephen, anything? Okay. Lisa, um I had the pleasure of uh having Dr. Goulsby give me a tour of Comb's Center for Success.
Knowing this, I can analyze data and different differentiate instruction to facilitate equitable growth. Okay, so it looks like my teams are done. Now we're going to do a Kagan celebration which we call ballin. Okay, you guys ready? two falling. Okay. Um these activities reinforce reinforce their learning and foster creativity, cultural relevance and provide choice as they extend their critical thinking. This targeted approach assure ensures all scholars are challenged and engaged based on their evolving understanding of the standards. [Applause] So, some celebrations from a fifth grade math teacher. Implementing building thinking classrooms has created a dynamic math environment centered on collaborative high-level problem solving. The vertical non-permanent workspaces are key fostering visible thinking and learning, curiosity and scholar agency. We also have a fifth grade scholar who shared, "When we work together and compare our work, I understand the material better. Using whiteboards during showdown, a Kagan instructure, helps me see what I'm missing.
So, that that's where I'm at. Okay, Brandy. Um so part of part of the reason that our budget was running at such a deficit this year was um as people may be aware property taxes the tax levy can go up 2 and a half% legally every year. Um the majority of that 2 and a half% this past year was really um actually in fixed costs and so little of the budget is actually discretionary. Um in fact I think our um health insurance went up 12 or 14% this year. So that almost that entire two and a half percent was was was towards was towards our health insurance. So um so part of it is part of it is increase in costs. So we'd have inflation and we've had you know that in in all aspects including things on the school side. Um we had three no two two tri board meetings and then additional budget meetings um that we talked about all of this but um where you know the schools are seeing a much higher um budget need because of a couple major things.
Um, learn about Ashlin Wreck and different programs. Uh, because this year we definitely have a large um a large group of families that it's their first experience. They're relatively new to the town of Ashland and they're really trying to find their way with young children and we want to kind of bring them in and get them more involved. Um, and since we don't have a lot of little people here, I know you guys have all read the slide deck already, so there's some testimonials there, but Jess is here, so she can give her own personal testimonial to her time with us and with Colin having his first year here. Yeah, I mean I have to say I work in education myself and the level of community development and involvement amongst the staff, the students, the parents, all of the above is just outstanding. I mean, the experience that I've had as a parent and my son has had have far surpassed any expectations I had.
The second um indicator was management and operations and the goal there was to ensure district resources are delineated equitably to address improvement in student attendance and access for all students to highquality instructional materials, appropriate curriculum to improve the district's overall student experience. One of the things that we've really tried to do is uh hone in on our chronic absenteeism rate this year. Um you will note in most of my parent updates I add a blurb about attendance and encouraging folks to think about how attendance matters for our students. We also had implemented a second chance bus. If students miss the first round of the bus, they have a phone they can call or a signup sheet in our principles and we can go get them. Uh the building level each week they have attendance meetings and they look at those students who are chronically absent and try to work with families on getting um a pathway back to getting to school and getting to school on time.
The second um indicator was management and operations and the goal there was to ensure district resources are deliated equitably to address improvement in student attendance and access for all students to highquality instructional materials, appropriate curriculum to improve the district's overall student experience. One of the things that we've really tried to do is uh hone in on our chronic absenteeism rate this year. Um you will note in most of my parent updates I add a blurb about attendance and encouraging folks to think about how attendance matters for our students. We also had implemented a second chance bus. If students missed the first round of the bus, they have a phone they can call or a signup sheet in our principles and we can go get them. Uh the building level each week they have attendance meetings and they look at those students who are chronically absent and try to work with families on getting um a pathway back to getting to school and getting to school on time.
Okay. Um, but again, we're in this catch 22 space. So, if anything were to be redlined within that policy, if it were allowed to be redlined, it would be those words inconsistency with what we're being asked to do, but we don't have any additional guidance from the state of Connecticut yet. Okay. And this is only for the first read anyway. At this point, we would but we wouldn't we're stuck between the state and feds. terrible right now. Well, technically, what the, you know, when you get into which law applies, because I did look into this when there's a conflict between the state and the feds, there's a supremacy clause where the, you know, the the the federal directives uh rule the day and that if you tried to, you know, defend that uh oh, you're just following state law, that's not a defense. So there is this it's difficult unsettled world typically I think when you see a lot of those things that's where the the lawsuits come in and then they file the injunction so don't change anything until the lawsuits come they'll settle this I have no idea yes so it's like you know we want this change somebody else doesn't want to change then they file a suit so then they say well don't change anything until we settle on it likely where this is going to head so I think we god knows sit back it's let it stay where it is and let it play out and then when they finally come up with the final decision then then we know what to do once we have a final decision.
They need to talk and so the more our language routines that we use in our our ESL classes are coming up in our core classes. Kids are doing better. When they talk, they're showing their thinking. We also I mentioned this before, our CLR stuff is amazing. It's validating and affirming students cultural backgrounds. And one of the major cultures is age. And so when we can include kids and make them feel seen and validated and then we build a bridge to a situationally appropriate behavior. So Dr. Holly is is the person who has been teaching us and the thing he's like everybody has to go to the DMV. I was there getting my real ID the other day and while I was raging inside for the hour I waited for my 20 minute appointment, 20-minute window. Me going crazy in there did would not have served a purpose.
So they look at that ratio to figure out what portion Yeuseite and Fast Lake will pay. Last year I did have a question about that I wanted to verify the changing room protocols. Do you recall that Michelle last year I have a I don't quote me right but I have a slight recollection that I remember that question and I I believe that the response was that they were letting one kid in at a time to change. That's what I remember. Yes. Um, it's been a little, you know, I've slept a few times since then, so I'm not for sure, but I remember that being the answer from from my hub. Yeah. And I believe you had mentioned at the time, unless they were siblings, they could go in together, but Right. If they felt comfortable, if each of the children felt were okay with that.
Our next speaker is Jessica Bustason. [Applause] Good evening, district board. My name is Jessica. I'm a proud member of the Ruskin and Siermont community. I want to thank the district for its efforts to support us through this transition. We appreciate the steps taken so far. However, as we look toward the next school year, we are still facing many unknowns. And with those unknowns comes real anxieties for our families, our schools, and staff, and especially our students. While I fully support the Mandarin immersion program and the exciting opportunities it will bring, I'm here tonight to ask this board to prioritize the retention of our office staff, the individuals who keep our school running smoothly day in and day out. This includes Miss Melanie, Miss Kimberly, our school nurse, our librarian, Miss Vargas, and others who are absolutely critical to our daily functions of our school. As we embrace new changes, please remember how important it is to retain the faces and voices that our students are and families know and trust.